Mariot Arbuthnot

Mariot Arbuthnot (1711-31 January 1794) was commander of the Royal Navy North American Station from 1779 to 1781, succeeding John Byron and preceding Thomas Graves. Arbuthnot commanded Great Britain's fleet in the Fall of Charleston in 1780, but Graves replaced him before the Battle of Chesapeake Bay.

Biography
Mariot Arbuthnot was born in 1711 in Weymouth, England, and he joined the Royal Navy in his late teens. In 1746, he became a commander, and he captured two French privateers while in command of HMS Jamaica during the War of the Austrian Succession. Arbuthnot served at the Battle of Quiberon Bay during the Seven Years' War, and from 1776 to 1778 he served as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia in British Canada. In 1779, he became Vice Admiral of the Blue and became commander-in-chief of the North American Station of the Royal Navy, and he was initially blockaded in New York City by Charles Hector's French fleet. Arbuthnot helped Henry Clinton in besieging Charleston in South Carolina, leading to the fall of the Carolinas to Great Britain, and in 1781 he defeated the French at the battle of Cape Henry. He decided to return to England after this victory, and Thomas Graves succeeded him. He died in 1794 in London.